Mike Munchak: Jake Locker has 'closed the gap' in competition with Matt Hasselbeck

Titans head coach Mike Munchak said on Sunday that second-year quarterback Jake Locker has 'closed the gap' in the competition with Matt Hasselbeck to start at quarterback for the Titans.

By Will Brinson

Aug 13, 2012 at 9:29 am ET • 1 min read

Locker's 'closed the gap' on Hassy. (US Presswire)

When the first unofficial Titans depth chart was released in late July, Matt Hasselbeck was on top of the quarterback list, ahead of Jake Locker. He's still there, but the gap between the two is a lot smaller than it was when training camp started.

There are reports that the gig is Locker's "to lose" regardless of the depth chart, and comments from Tennessee head coach Mike Munchak indicate that might not be far off. At the very least, Munchak conceded Sunday, via Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean, that Locker's "closed the gap" on Hasselbeck.

"I don’t know if there was a big gap," Munchak said. "Obviously Jake doesn’t have the experience Matt has, so I think that gap you can never really close if you are a young quarterback. But I think overall, as the season progressed last year, we thought that Jake was coming on real strong. So yeah, he has closed the gap and they are obviously both doing well. We are happy with both of them and at some point we’ll make a decision."

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the Titans quarterback battle, which is quite close.

One says that the Titans should play the young kid and find out exactly what Locker can do during the heat of battle, and let his mobility and bigger arm turn their offense into a more explosive unit. (I'm in this school.)

The other says that the veteran Hasselbeck should play, since the Titans have a playoffs shot in the weakened AFC South and Hasselbeck represents the safest, most reliable option.

It was believed as recently as a month ago that Munchak heavily favored Hasselbeck. But all the rumors, quotes and general indications coming out of the Titans preseason sure seem to point towards Locker as the guy the Titans hope can win the competition and get the ball rolling on their future now.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Will Brinson on Twitter here: @willbrinson.